1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a kingpin assembly and more particularly, an adjustable kingpin assembly which controls the camber or castor of a wheel assembly mounted to the kingpin assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Kingpin assemblies are conventionally manufactured to provide a fixed camber and castor to a wheel mounted thereon. The amount of camber is predetermined and the kingpin assembly is manufactured to this predetermined camber. Once the vehicle is manufactured with the appropriate kingpin assembly, the camber and castor of the wheel is fixed and cannot be adjusted.
Due to manufacturing tolerances and changes of condition of the vehicle, camber and castor adjustment is desired to provide individualized handling characteristics of the motor vehicle.
The plurality of camber and castor adjustors have been available for other types of steering wheel assemblies such as the McPherson strut assemblies or ball joint assemblies. U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,578 issued to Mattson on May 31, 1977 discloses a sleeve with an eccentrically displaced hole for adjustment of the McPherson strut assembly. Such sleeves with eccentrically displaced holes with an axis parallel with the central axis of the sleeve have also been used in adjusting the camber of a steerable wheel assembly which has a spindle mounted to an upper and lower control arm through the use of upper and lower ball joints.